It is admittedly not so large compared with the US budget but there are underlying factors few here to consider as far as the US goes such as salaries, operational costs, maintenance, pensions, the VA, R & D and so on.
Not so much of the budget (in the US) is spent on procurement these days really.

EDIT: if the US didn't spend so much on the DOD, think of how much more the US economy would suffer! How many folks depend on their salaries from the military budget? Millions!

dusty1 Post time: 2012-12-29 05:14
The Americans are closing military bases, and redusung the number of troops they have, they are cu ...

Yes but the US often closes bases. It's almost an annual thing to streamline the military and reduce costs in the long term.
As for reducing troops, well, you'll find that a lot will be transferred to the active reserves, much like China's previous troop reduction a few years ago. The troops merely became the people's armed police!